All that separated the Fools from the Cools was a 5 foot high chain link fence! hahahaha I'll leave it to you to figure out which side was which. ;-)

It was while walking around downtown Friday night that I decided on really having nothing to do with this PRB fiasco. It was while watching them set up the stage in the middle of a parking lot and at the El Cortez watching the Sheep trying to get their tickets in the Fiesta Room that I realized how absurd this all was. Here you had a supposedly rebellion oriented little sub-culture of independent free thinkers all looking the same and acting the same and being nice and organized and obeying the rules and conforming to whatever was asked of them, all just to see some bands from hundreds of yards away and to be confined in a little corral like space where they willingly waited around for hours to be flocked and fleeced of everything and anything they had of value. Expensive bottled water? Check! Over priced beers? Check? $5 cover charge to use the GOOD bathrooms? Check! All that over priced liquid has to go somewhere, right? Right! Might as well make a buck or two off of it. There was no In's or Out's, no studded anything allowed in, stupid metal bleachers to sit on, all the band merch was visibly over priced, and that stupid Larry And His Flask band of attention whores was more than annoying with their playing everywhere they could around the event. Fucking dooshbag Scenester hippy acoustic Beard Core bullshit. I fucking hate it. Bite me. Yeah, the Descendents stole the event, and I heard good things about Cock Sparrer, but I thought the Singer was a bit "off" and the drummer was just boring and playing the songs without accents. Boooooo. N.J. Pete told me Stiff Little Fingers killed it, and he knows what's up, so I'll believe that. I didn't make it to any of the Club events, because I'm not a Tool, but I heard All was pretty good from Jeremy, who was drooling over Karl Alvarez all weekend like the sexy fan boy that he is, and Christian told me that Fishbone rocked it pretty good too. Heard nothing else about any of the club shows. Nothing. Oh well. The whole PRB thing was a giant clusterfuck anyways. I felt sorry if anyone paid to stand around in the parking lot and pose for pictures to post on Facebook of you and your friends looking stupid, when everyone knew that you could see everything just fine from various places around the place, like the Motel 8, or the El Cortez parking lot, or even just by standing on the sidewalk. Shit, people were giving away tickets, and the scalpers were selling them below face value. I guess that's what happens when you over sell all the events by 30%, because you anticipate people buying the tickets and not using them. Yeah, the huge battle I was anticipating didn't break out between the Crusty Punx and the Skinheads on the last day, but oh well. I guess that means Punk Rock Bowling will be back next year to fleece the sheep of Las Vegas and I, as always, will be on the outside looking in. Yup. Thanks to Monica and Rebecca for making me miss the gigs. LOLThe gig with the Loud Pipes on Saturday was a hollow victory at best. Beard Core was in full effect with the opening bands all sitting around playing acoustic guitars and singing Bob Dylan hippy shit while throwing in the occasional Punk band cover. Yeah, because I need to hear what Fuck Armageddon, This Is Hell by Bad Religion sounds like slowed down and acoustic. What the fucking fuck is wrong with people nowadays?? I might have to declare war on Beard Core, because this shit is getting out of hand. By the time we played, people were just dying to hear SOMETHING good, and we gave it to them, of course, even though we got out-shined by Rawkmom's band, who I think are called Lazer Wolf. Pretty fucking impressive they were. It was a good night. Thanks to Bree for all the jokes. How was that drumming again? :-)

The Vegascendents gig on Monday was CRAZY! I've never seen the LVCS so fucking full of people. They got rid of the Bull (awwwwww) and have more than 2 bartenders working there now, making getting a drink a breeze. The legal capacity for the place is 700, and the staff there said there was close to a thousand people there for Cock Sparrer the night before. Crazy. Anyways, we played pretty good and got a great crowd reaction from everyone, which was both weird and nice. I still don't understand the 'Covers' thing, but apparently a lot of people do, because by the time Punk Rock Karaoke got on stage, the place was primed and ready to go off. Who knew that the appeal of seeing drunken people warble along to and forget the words to songs that should be burned into their brains from years of overplaying was such a draw? LOL I mean seriously, how do you flub the 'Hey! Ho! Let's Go!' intro to Blitzkrieg Bop? hahahahaha Well, some guy did, and there were plenty other mistakes made, but who cares? It was all in good fun. Some people did good though, like that chick who sang Sonic Reducer without a lyric sheet! Dick Lucas from the Sub/Hum/Ans snarled his way through New Rose by the Damned. Shawn Stern totally flubbed Amoeba, and Amy Carrelli nailed it when doing Cherry Bomb by the Runaways without a lyric sheet! Like I said, it was a fun way to end an epic 4 or 5 day run of drunken, drugged out debauchery with Punk Rock Bowling as the background to it all. Thanks to Michaela for making me miss everything and nothing. :-)

There was no way I'm gonna make it to Guitar Wolf tonight. No fucking way. Like most people, it's gonna take me days to recover from this, so I'm gonna go pop some pills and go get some rest. Hibernation time, I believe it's called. Later.

Man, you slack off on things a bit and shit gets confusing. Allow me to clarify please. :-)

The LVCS thing: Well, I'm glad so many of you were so adamant about supporting the 'Fuck The LVCS' thing I was pushing a while back. I'm sure none of you were planning on going to that Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine fiasco, right? Yeah, right. You're a bunch of lying motherfuckers. Anyways, bad things happen to bad people who do bad things, and let's just say that some really bad things happened to those involved in the Farce that was inflicted upon Roxie, things that included Unemployment and Divorce. Now that those who dared to participate and perpetrate in the Idiocy have been sent home with their tails between their slimy legs, the LVCS is again a good place to play and support. Kind of. I mean, the people in charge now will never put together a List like the last fools did. Well, maybe... LOL If they do make a list, it won't be made public! LOL Again, maybe that's true... I dunno. All I know is that the bad ju-ju has been exorcised from that venue and it's OK to go there and support it. Now if they would only get rid of that ridiculous practice about making bands who are playing there pay for their own parking thing, I'd really get behind that place as a cool venue to support. ;-)

The PRB thing:I know I'm a hypocrite. Tell me something everybody else doesn't already know. I'm no ardent supporter of the fiasco that is PRB, and I've bashed it both Privately and Publicly at every given opportunity. I don't have a ticket but I can get in, but I don't want to. Like other cool people, I know ways and people who can get me in but even with all that, I'm still not going. I didn't even apply for a Photo pass like the one I got last year. Last year, I took one look at the stage and the set up and went WTF? This isn't 'Punk'! It looked like the US Festival to me. It looked like Cal Jam. It looked like Lollapalooza, 3 music festivals that have nothing to do with Punk in any way, shape or form. Music festivals are basically a way to get the Sheeple all into one place so that they can be flocked of every bit of money possible with the lowest given back in returns; you get shitty sounding music from a band you can't even see and that is easier to watch perform on the big TV screen, as well as overpriced everything from bottles of water to band tee shirts which, for some reason, people pay gladly for. Fuck that. I wanted no part of that bullshit in Henderson and I want no part of that bullshit going on downtown this year. I'm pretty much Anti-Punk Rock Bowling, especially considering the superficial attempt of including Local bands in the proceedings was limited to a whopping 3 bands - TheCore, Goldfish Don't Bounce and Guilty By Association, 3 well proven, well supported bands with tons of Friends and Fans here in Vegas. I immediately called Shenanigans on PRB for this, noticing that all sorts of shitty vanity project bands and bands that no one heard of or gave a shit about were playing the festival and officially sanctioned events, and all because they suck the Stern dick, and I also pointed out that it was a bit of a slap in the face that this event was being held in Vegas with such limited Local support. I guarantee you, no Punk rock gigs or festivals would happen in L.A. with tons of bands from Nevada playing it, that's for sure. So that was just another reason to stay away from the Farce, but then my band the Vegascendents got the call, and it was too good to resist. We took the gig. Now the Local band count is up to a whopping 4.

This is from the Punk Rock Bowling website

And this gheyness is from the SMASH Magazine email

Nobody mentions that we're a Descendents cover band in either mention, but whatever. We got on PRB somehow and the Haterade started flowing. Just to address a few of you out there - No, it wasn't my bitching on the website that got us the gig, and No, we didn't go up and beg them to play the gig like some bands in town tried to do. And we didn't kiss anybody's ass or finger anyone's buttholes besides our own to get the gig, that's for damn sure. We just did. Deal with it and get over it. I'm assuming that someone saw our performance @ Hooter's last year and how the crowd was going nuts for the tuneage and just kept us in mind or something, but who knows. It's a good opportunity, and if your band was asked you would of taken the gig too, so hush. My hypocrisy goes only so far.;-) Anyways, come out to the gig on Monday and check out an excellent night filled with classic Punk rock tunes played by a bunch of old dudes. Come on, you know you wanna see that, don't ya? hee hee hee

The Sharks Thing:Oh, it's just too painful to speak of right now. We gave it all and left it on the ice. Such a fucking bummer. I didn't see where that puck went either. It was on the glass and then it was in the net. Still can't explain it. And now with all these injuries being revealed - Thornton with a detached pinky finger and shoulder separation, Couture with a broken nose, Boyle with a damaged MCL in his left knee, Clowe with a shoulder separation, Heatley with a broken hand, Nichol with a torn shoulder and a cut on his knee requiring 20 stitches, well, it just makes me love my Team even more. Although, common sense has to ask what these injured players were doing on the ice when healthy backups were available? Yeah, maybe they weren't Playoff proven, but still, they weren't damaged! Oh well. Looking at that injury list just shows what a great sport Hockey is. It truly is Rugby on ice. And to think in baseball and basketball they don't play if they have a sprained wrist - what a bunch of FAGZ! hahahaha It was a great Season and if anything we can say we knocked the Detroit Chicken Wings out of the dance for the 2nd year in a row! They're our Bitches! hahahaaha I hate those guys. Enjoy your time off San Jose! As always, I'm super proud to be a Sharks fan. Yup!The punksinvegas.com Thing:I don't know why people want me to go after this website, but they do. I know about it, and I read it. I hear the arguments why I should, and I get it, but I'm not gonna do it. Yeah, I made the jokes about it being a 'Beardcore' website, because everyone on there is either playing an acoustic guitar or sporting a beard, sometimes both, and although I get it, whatever, if you ask me, I don't consider that hippy shit Punk in any way, shape or form but apparently, a lot of you Scenesters do, and that's your opinion and you're welcome to it. Woody Guthrie was a Punk? Jim Croce was a Punk? John Denver was a Punk? Who knew? ;-) I made the joke about it, some people ran with it, and now it's kind of taking on a life of it's own, but it was just a joke - nothing more, nothing less. Hell, I mean they mentioned us in a posting a few days back! How can I belittle them after that! LOL Anyways, I think punksinvegas.com does a great job covering parts of the Las Vegas Music Scene that I wouldn't give the time of day to, and for that alone he is to be commended. Steven is a good kid, and I wish him all the best.

Gee, this old guy sure gets to rambling sometimes. Everything is updated. I'm off to kipper a few winks to make up for all the ones I'm gonna miss out on this weekend. The Loud Pipes are playing Rawkmom's Gutterball Bash on Saturday @ the Double Down, so come out and hoist a few with us. See you at PRB.

It's not that I don't have anything to say - believe me, the stuff I know about and the Rumors I've been hearing are some very salacious stuff - but I'm just busy as fuck with little to no time to just sit on the ol' computer and pontificate. I got the Loud Pipes gig @ the Double Down on Fri., and then the Vegascendents were asked to play the final PRB gig on Monday night at the LVCS with that Punk Rock Karaoke band thing, so I gotta practice hard to look sharp at both of the gigs. The gig @ the Divebar was pretty fun, with a dedicated contingent of rowdy drunks mucking about and having fun while we were playing. I'll post some video from that night later on. Right now, I gotta get the Emerald mansion ready for tonight's performance. I'm hoping that there will be no interruptions! ;-)

For you Spies out there, with little to no reading comprehension, I would just like to inform you that Seattle was a blast! I totally didn't wanna come back. Seriously. But I guess I had to. Right?

I had this glowing CD review written up about this new Local band, who feature a Friend of mine, and while looking up who the other members are, I thought that I saw that one of them was a member of a band that I can't stand, a band that I don't support in any way, shape and form, and a band who's members I will not support in any project that they're a part of. Morals? Beliefs? Values? Standards? Me? Yeah, I know. Shocks me too sometimes, but some things will never be forgotten. God Forgives. I don't. So I asked my Friend is it was the same person, and he confirmed that it was, and I reluctantly had to tell him I couldn't support his band. He asked why, and I told him, and he told me to stop being a Fag about it, but I didn't relent in the least bit, and after a while he said he respected my decision and we left it at that. No harsh words, no antipathy, nothing. Imagine that. And, as if to rub salt into my wounds, my Friend told me that their songs sound even better live. Fuck. Sometimes it's hard sticking to your guns. Sometimes. ;-)

I got this letter a while back, but just decided to post it up right now.

I'm guessing by all over usage of exclamation points that "They mean it, maaaaaaaan!" LOL Look, I get this all the time, every time, same time every year. I adore pontificating on my beloved San Jose Sharks and Oakland Raiders, and if you don't like it go read punksinvegas or something. The sports talk here only stops when my Teams aren't playing! And on that note:

Fuck You Vancouver!!

And speaking of punksinvegas, they were lucky enough to host the World debut of a new song by the new band Deadhand, which is just Lydia Vance without the emo guitar player whatshisname in it. I've been fortunate enough to hear Deadhand rehearsing their songs, and once I even slid my TASCAM recorder under their door and recorded their set. LOL Came out pretty good too! One of the songs I recorded, Prehistoric, is featured on the bands Pure Volume page, so just click here to check it out yourself if you haven't already and see just how fucking face melting Deadhand's music is. To say that I'm hyped on this is a huge understatement. Check out both songs on both websites and revel in the greatness that is Deadhand. :-)

For those of you who give a shit about PRB, Killing Joke has cancelled their Tour and will not be playing their Monday slot at PRB. Agnostic Front will be filling in for them, but save yourself the trouble and just go see them @ the Cheyenne Saloon when they play there in September. And speaking of bands not playing, Instinct Of Survival were denied entrance by the Dept. of Homeland Security into the U.S.A., based on their smelly dreads and lengthy criminal records. That sucks! I was looking forward to their gig next week @ Yayo Taco. Booooooooooo

It was 10 years ago today that we lost The Man, The Myth, The Legend, that will forever be known as Ronnie James Dio. \m/(*_*)\m/ Booooooooooooo. Such a cool little guy. The Voice may be gone but it will be heard forever and never, ever forgotten.

OK, I think I've blabbered on long enough, and come pretty damn close to recreating what I wrote last night before the Weebly Monster decided to eat everything that I had wrote. Everything is updated. I added a shitload of shows to the Gig Calendar page, including the Loud Pipes gig @ the Double Down next week. Guttural Secrete are playing @ Yayo Taco tomorrow, and then this is happening Friday @ the Divebar. Yeah, I know.

Yeah, Vegascendents / S.F.T. / I.D.F.I. are gonna be playing some tunes and drinking some brews and keeping the air full of the kind smoke. Stop on by and listen to some Punk Rock tuneage played as only we can. ;-) See ya there.

I had this HUGE update posted, hyper-linked and everything, and when I hit the button to post it, nothing showed up. I tried to go back to a previously saved version of it, and that was gone too. FUCK!!! I'm going to sleep. I'll re-write it in the afternoon when I wake up.